Cybersecurity — 2026-04-08

DDoS Attack on Russia's Rostelecom Disrupts Banking, Government Services Across 30 Cities

A large-scale DDoS attack hit Russia's largest telecom provider Rostelecom on the evening of April 6, disrupting internet services in roughly 30 cities. Affected services included the Gosuslugi government portal, banking apps, Russian Railways, VKontakte, Wildberries, and Steam. Rostelecom claimed to have neutralized the attack by 11:09 PM, but disruptions continued into April 7. No group has claimed responsibility. Russia faces increasing cyber pressure amid the Ukraine conflict, with Ukrainian forces separately conducting kinetic strikes on Russian oil infrastructure.

Analysis
The scope, covering 30 cities along with banking and government portals, points to either a state-level actor or a well-resourced hacktivist coalition. Russia's regulator blamed a "network fault" rather than acknowledging an attack, consistent with Moscow's pattern of underreporting cyber incidents. The timing coincides with Ukrainian kinetic strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, suggesting possible coordinated cyber-physical operations.
3 sources
  1. Cyberattack on telecom giant Rostelecom disrupts internet services across Russia - The Record
  2. Rostelecom cyberattack knocks internet services offline in 30 Russian cities - CyberNews
  3. Russia's internet regulator blames Rostelecom network fault for widespread outages - Meduza

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